That Christmas Feelin'
by Stranger Kind of Dream
Summary: A team/family Christmas is in store for the agents in order to take their minds off some recent events, including Secret Santa, Christmas dinner, and lots of bonding between the team members (both old and new). Also, Trip is still 100% most definitely alive and well (in this story at least)! Prompted and written for the AoS Christmas Fic Exchange.


**So I wrote this fic for the AoS Christmas Fic Exchange on Tumblr. Not my best work, as I would've liked a few more days to get it polished, but a deadline is a deadline :L**

"_**Coulson grappling with the fact he died? Also I very much prefer people just being friends. And Christmas isn't Christmas without going to Christmas Eve mass. (You don't need to write the mass, you can ignore writing it. But it feels weird to have the Season without the Reason, you know?) Just lots of friendship between everyone, lots of slice of life stuff and it can be almost any situation. Making Snowmen, trying to pull together a Christmas dinner, watching "It's a Wonderful Life", everyone merging their Christmas traditions, going out Christmas shopping, whatever."**_

**The prompt seemed pretty broad, and what was initially a Christmas dinner idea somehow turned into Secret Santa. I tried to get in most of the things that were asked for… hope you like it! :)**

* * *

><p>"Hey guys," Trip said, crashing down on the sofa next to Hunter and Mack who were immersed in some kind of football video game. "Where is everyone? It hasn't been this quiet for days,"<p>

"Tell me about it" Mack agreed, barely lifting his eyes from the screen.

Since Coulson had given the team a few days off for Christmas, some of the younger agents (namely Skye) had gone a little overboard with the planning of various festivities. The decorations had gone up, the music had come on, and the limitless enthusiasm was yet to die down.

"The Director took Skye and Fitzsimmons to midnight mass, I think," Mack continued. "D'you know where Bobbi is?" He asked, turning to Hunter.

"How should I know?!" Hunter questioned, a touch too defensively. "Might be with May in the kitchen I suppose," he added nonchalantly.

"In the kitchen?" Trip queried, picking up a controller and joining the game.

"Yeah, they said something about planning Christmas dinner," Hunter said vaguely.

"Really?" Trip asked, impressed. "Agent May… Christmas dinner?"

"Hey, we were as surprised as you, man," Mack said good naturedly, "but I think she's just doing it for the others. We've all had a tough time of it recently,"

"Can't argue with you there Mack," Trip agreed.

"Well if Bobbi's helping then it might not _necessarily_ cheer everyone up," Hunter told them knowingly.

The other two snorted, shaking their heads almost in unison.

"What? It's true," he continued earnestly.

"Never said it wasn't," Trip reassured him, turning to grin at Mack. "But maybe you should keep your thoughts on the game," he continued, before scoring against Hunter's team.

"Oh, no fair!" He complained, causing the other two to laugh.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile the two female agents were making their way to the bar, ignoring the shouts coming from the lounge area.<p>

"So you're definitely gonna do Christmas dinner tomorrow?" Bobbi asked, handing May a glass of sherry, which she gratefully accepted.

"Yep," May said, following a tiny sigh that did not go unnoticed by Agent Morse.

"You don't have to y'know," Bobbi told her friend.

"I know, and I know Coulson would, but he's had a lot to deal with recently. Simmons said she'd help,"

Bobbi nodded as she thought over what May had said. "Well I would help too, but you know what my cooking's like," she laughed, causing May to crack a smile. "But it'll be a good way to take everyone's minds off… recent events,"

"Exactly," May agreed, and then, after a short pause, gave a small laugh. "I bet they don't do Secret Santa at Hydra,"

Bobbi laughed into her glass. "Probably not," she agreed, "Although I've never been on a team where that was the norm to be honest,"

"Well Skye wanted to," May said, as if that explained everything. To be honest, when it came to Coulson, it probably did.

"Ah," Bobbi said in vague agreement. "Speaking of which, did you manage to find anything for Trip?"

"I did." May told her, a hint of a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. "And you?"

"Oh yeah, Simmons was pretty easy to buy for really – I had some time to get to know her after the whole undercover thing,"

May nodded in response.

Everyone was being very secretive about their partners for Secret Santa this year. It was rather impressive that, despite the fact that nearly half of the team was comprised of spies, no major secrets had gotten out yet. Although, of course, some of the team knew who had who, nobody seemed to know who had them, or at least if they did, they were keeping it a secret.

"I wonder who got Hunter," Bobbi mused.

"Fitz," May replied without missing a beat.

"Well good luck to him," Bobbi said, with a hint of bitterness that May could only roll her eyes at. "Although I feel more sorry for the person Hunter's buying for,"

"I'm guessing there's a story there?" May asked, resigning herself to her fate.

"Isn't there always?" Coulson asked, appearing round the corner, a wry smile gracing his lips.

"You know me too well Sir," Bobbi said, grinning at Coulson, "How was mass?"

"Nice, although it felt a little strange to be doing something so normal for once,"

"Well that's why we took a few days off – normalcy will be good for them… For all of us," May added. "How were Fitzsimmons?

"About the same. As good as can be expected, considering the circumstances, but Skye was definitely able to cheer them up some,"

"Are they with the others? I think I'll go check in on them," Bobbi said, leaving not so discreetly. From the sounds of the louder shouts coming from the living area, it was clear that some kind of girls v boys gaming war had broken out and she didn't want to let the side down.

Coulson sighed as Bobbi left, eagerly accepting the glass of sherry May handed him.

"And you Phil?" May asked as soon as Bobbi was out of earshot, "How was it for you?"

"I'm fine," he said automatically. "Like I said, it was nice… It's just since New York and TAHITI, you know, it's all not quite the same,"

"I know," May told him, understandingly. She knew the holidays could be hard for him. However May also knew that it did no good to dwell on the past, or to try to hold on to ideas of what things _should_ be like. Things were what they were and to be honest, they could be a lot worse. "Just… try not to dwell on it, okay?" She reminded him, concern written all over her face.

"I'll try," Coulson agreed, giving her a weak smile.

"Good," May said, returning his smile briefly. "Besides, this might actually be fun," she added, holding her sherry glass up in a meaningful way.

"Oh Skye's in charge, so its mandatory fun," the Director conceded good-humouredly.

* * *

><p>Coulson and May had joined the rest of the team soon after Bobbi, and the remainder of the night went by fairly quickly. Before long it was Christmas morning, and despite many of the Agents insisting that they weren't really bothered by the festivities, there was an air of excitement about the place.<p>

Skye woke early, although apparently not early enough. As she passed the living room, she could hear that Trip was already up and watching TV. After wishing him a merry Christmas and establishing that most of the rest of the team was still asleep, she moved on to the kitchen for some breakfast.

"Merry Christmas!" Skye told May and Simmons excitedly as she found them already preparing for dinner.

"Merry Christmas Skye," Simmons replied cheerily, leaving the cooking for a minute so she could hug her friend.

"How long have you been up?"

"Not too long, but Agent May's been up for hours – Trip was helping her before me," Simmons told her.

"Hours?" Skye asked, sounding impressed.

"Well if we're doing this, might as well do it properly," May said shortly, hoping that her answer was enough to satisfy Skye. No chance.

"Really?" Skye asked with a grin on her face. "You sure you're not excited for Christmas after all?"

May only glared at her, silencing any further comments.

"Or… not," Skye said. "So when can we do presents? Its pretty much up to you two,"

"Erm right about now should be fine?" Simmons said, looking at May for confirmation. May nodded and Simmons turned back to Skye with a smile. "Yes now's fine and then we can have dinner some time after,"

"Okay great!" Skye enthused, bouncing off to wake the others with a loud yell of "Guys, _presents_!"

"I suppose we'd better get this over with," Simmons said in a rather long-suffering tone. May looked at Simmons with sympathy, knowing that she was trying to mask how she felt about the awkward wedge that had formed between her and Fitz. It had been especially difficult for the pair of scientists this year, and May had to admit that Skye's quick idea of Secret Santa had really helped to take the pressure off the two of them.

"Come on," May encouraged, placing her hand soothingly on Simmons' arm, before changing the subject. "I know Coulson will love your present."

"How did you…" Simmons began, confused, until she remembered who she was speaking to. She sighed before giving a small laugh. She should've known that all her efforts to keep the Director's gift a secret would've been useless against Agent May. "Wait, Coulson doesn't know, does he?" She asked, suddenly concerned.

"No, you're good," May assured her.

"You guys coming?" Trip asked, sticking his head around the doorway, "Skye's getting a _little_ bit impatient," he grinned.

"Of course she is," Simmons said, grinning back. May only shook her head, following the others through to the living area come Santa's grotto.

The scene they were faced with was like an excerpt from some bizarre Christmas movie. The gang were assembled on the sofas around the room, each in various stages of alertness and adorned with an assortment of festive accessories. Skye was now wearing in a particularly hideous Christmas jumper (probably deliberately) over her pyjamas, as well as a light-up Santa hat, and was sat on the floor, handing out presents.

"Heads up Fitz!" She exclaimed, tossing a fairly large parcel at him.

"Careful Skye," he replied rather irately when he didn't quite reach it in time. His delay was most likely due to weariness but it was still enough to upset him. "I can't… couldn't er… my- my reactions aren't…"

"It's okay, I got it," Simmons said gently, passing him the parcel before squeezing on to the sofa between him and Bobbi.

"Thanks Jemma," he said, shyly making eye contact before giving her a small smile.

"No problem," she replied, returning his smile with a pat on his knee.

"Trip, you're next," Skye said, continuing to hand out all the gifts until there were no more beneath the tree and the gang could finally discover what they had been given.

Hunter was the first to unwrap his present, revealing a large moneybox and a few beer-themed accessories. "I don't know whether to laugh or to be offended," he said slowly.

"You're welcome," Fitz replied, hardly looking up from the modified Sonic Screwdriver replica that Coulson had given him.

"Hah, that just about sums you up, man," Trip told Hunter, barely attempting to cover his laughter, which then amplified hugely as he opened his own gift of luxury facial hair care products.

"You were saying?" Hunter asked sarcastically.

"Well we all know how important it is that you look your best," May said wryly. The room fell strangely silent as May unwrapped her gifts. She didn't understand why initially, as her first present - a bottle of Scotch - seemed like a fairly good gift. However it wasn't until she tore the paper from her second gift to find a Thor action figure that she understood why some of the younger agents were nudging each other, stifling giggles. They had dared Mack to buy May something Thor related, hoping he would be able to take care of himself if she didn't quite appreciate the joke. However May only pressed her lips into a thin line, suppressing amusement rather than anger as the others burst out laughing.

When the laughter died down, the rest of the team continued to open their gifts, admiring the thoughtful ones and enjoying the funnier elements.

"Ohh Bobbi I love it!" Simmons exclaimed, wrapping a replica of the fourth Doctor's scarf around her neck.

"I'm glad you do, although this isn't much of a _Secret_ Santa anymore," she said, pulling a large Star Wars themed hoodie on, "so I might as well say thanks, Skye,"

"No problem," she laughed, "and Trip, how did you know I liked Harry Potter?"

"Well you only mentioned it about twenty times, so…" he laughed.

"And now we match!" Skye said to Simmons, arranging her Gryffindor scarf around her neck.

"We do," Simmons agreed, smiling. "And what did you get Sir?" She continued, using her most innocent and unassuming tone. Coulson only eyed her suspiciously, before holding up a Captain America mug filled with various other small Cap-themed items.

"Thank you Simmons," he said with a gentle smile.

"So that just leaves you Mack," Bobbi said cheerfully, "what d'you get?"

"The perfect gift," he said, showing them the Top Gear themed bath products and cocktail recipe book.

"Glad to hear it," Hunter replied jokingly. "Thought that book might be something we could all enjoy a little later,"

"You bet," Skye agreed, grinning.

Coulson looked around at the group of agents before him. Most, he knew, like Mack, Hunter and May, were not too bothered about the festivities. However he knew just how important it had been for the younger agents to have some time to bond and share, and maybe even get a little over-excited.

Fitzsimmons were now having a quiet discussion (about Fitz's new Sonic Screwdriver, of course) that Coulson knew the rest of them probably wouldn't understand, and Skye, Trip and Bobbi were also chatting happily about one thing or another. It may not have been the most mature morning so far, or even very appropriate for agents of such high calibre to play family for a few hours, but everyone was happy, and for the time being, any looming threat of something worse to come was long forgotten.

"Alright then," Coulson said, finally standing. "Lets get some of this mess cleared up in time for dinner,"

"Copy that, Sir," Hunter said sarcastically with a finger to his ear.

"How long do you need?" Coulson asked, looking at May.

"About two hours," she told him, waiting for an affirming nod before heading to the kitchen. Simmons followed shortly after, with Fitz close behind, leaving the others to prepare the dinner table.

* * *

><p>Roughly four hours later and the whole team were crashed in front of the TV, stuffed and exhausted. Everyone agreed that the Christmas dinner had been the best they had ever had, and that it was probably the most enjoyable day they'd had for a long time too. It was particularly at times like this when Coulson was thankful for the team he was now surrounded by. If not for them, well he might not have even remembered Christmas until it had passed him by, and like May had told him, it didn't do well to spend time thinking about the bad things. Everything might not be right with the world right now, but there were an awful lot of positive things too, and that really was worth remembering.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>This was really hard to end without going on and on about every little detail (trust me I wanted to but I didn't have time haha). Let me know what you think x<strong>


End file.
